


The Magnus Records 033 - Train's Whistle

by ErinsWorks



Series: The Magnus Records [17]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: AU: The Entities are nice and the world is awful, Alternate Universe, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:13:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22578370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ErinsWorks/pseuds/ErinsWorks
Summary: In a world of pushy families and bad rides, perhaps Carlita Sloane would work in a business entirely divorced from the shipping industry. Perhaps the crew aboard her trade of choice would welcome her with open arms. And perhaps Peter Lukas wouldn't go by the title of "Captain."Here at the Magnus Sanctuary, London, we will find out.Start your interview. Share your hope.
Series: The Magnus Records [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1497773
Comments: 16
Kudos: 49





	The Magnus Records 033 - Train's Whistle

**MAG033 – Resident 1539 – “Train’s Whistle”**

[CLICK]

**KEEPER**

Look, Tim, I’m sorry that I can’t find anything more in the interviews, but is it alright if I can get back to recording?

**TIM**

No, it isn’t  _ alright, _ okay? There’s so much stuff that Gertrude’s blacked out, so many patterns you just  _ ignore _ . 

**KEEPER**

Such as?

**TIM**

Like the books! There are so many interviews about  _ books _ that are just blacked out straight to hell. Like, for instance, the one with “M. C.”, the kid who got buried in snow and survived! Why’s his name blacked out?? He’s not even  _ in the story!!  _ And the last few pages are just  _ nothing!!! _ It looks more like a  _ barcode _ than a  _ transcript. _

**KEEPER**

Right, yes, the interview that mentions the white book… What was it titled…  _ Ex Solacium,  _ right?

**TIM**

That’s the one, yeah.

**KEEPER**

I’ve got my own theories. I think these blacked out names- the “J.L.” for instance, or the Mary who shows up so often- are in some way tied to Gertrude. We still don’t know exactly why she’s been so determined to keep so much information from us, but I think it’s a safe bet that these people are involved.

**TIM**

Well thanks Sherlock, it's great that you've _ flawlessly deduced that Gertrude is hiding names because she has a reason to hide those names. _

**KEEPER**

_ (Audibly frustrated)  _ Well what do you  _ want _ me to do??

**TIM**

I don't know! Follow the rabbit holes if they show up! Stop  _ reading interviews at RANDOM! _

**KEEPER**

If it's as easy as that,  _ YOU _ try it!!!

[CLICK]

[CLICK]

**KEEPER**

_ (Long sigh.)  _ … Interview with Carlita Sloane, regarding her work as an attendant on  _ The Aurora Express _ . Original interview taken January the 2nd, 2011. Audio recording by Jonathan Sims, Record Keeper of the Magnus Sanctuary, London.

Interview begins.

**KEEPER (INTERVIEW)**

I've been working on luxury trains in Britain for some time now, so I can tell you the rides are rarely as magical as you'd think. Some kid always gets sick all over the floor, some couple is always having a row in their bedroom, and down the hall from them another couple is having loud and  _ ugly _ sex in their own. The hot cocoa's never right, the food is always too cold, the service is always too slow, and at the end of the day  _ someone _ on staff is going to get screamed at for something that isn’t even their fault. After all the years of dealing with rich prats on long train rides, and with my career on the line, I figured I'd work on something a little less mainline.

So… I quit my job on  _ the West Highland Line. _ And after a bit of asking around with some old mates, I found what seemed to be the perfect job: ticket prices were low, it was out-of-the-way, and I’d heard rumors that it paid even more than the Caledonian Sleeper. The track went from Inverness to London with plenty of hour-long stops, making for a total round trip of seven days. It was a long trip to be sure, but definitely not the two weeks of hell-on-rails that I’d been used to. Plus, it helped that the name looked like it came straight out of a storybook:  _ “The Aurora Express” _ . I mean. Come on. That’s just fantastic. I’ve got a pretty stunning resume, so I sent in my application, and a week later I was on board. 

As I rolled into the station at 6:00 as I was instructed, I saw my new boss and coworkers having a really lively conversation. And I mean  _ really  _ lively, like best friends and old schoolmates. It definitely wasn’t the kind of energy I got from my old  _ miserable  _ coworkers, and- when I waved a greeting to the man in a conductor’s hat who stood some ways down the station- it certainly wasn’t the cold welcome I’d been used to.

The conductor, a man by the name of Peter Lukas, waved back to me with the intensity of a  _ hurricane. _ He began to approach me at a brisk pace, a wide smile showing under his scruffy white beard. “Miss Sloane!” He exclaimed to greet me, in this kind of smooth-and-deep voice, and I almost  _ laughed.  _ There was something about him, whether it be the way the buttoned-up conductor's uniform hugged his body, or the way his eyes seemed to shine in the morning light, or that white beard, that made him seem exactly like… well, like  _ Father Christmas. _ I managed to contain the thought though, and nodded to acknowledge that yes, that was my name. Conductor Lukas’s smile got wider, something that I didn’t think was possible before then.

He reached out a hand, and instinctively, I reached back to shake it. “Wonderful to meet you!” he began, before getting to the details. “The Aurora will be pulling into the station at 6:45, and departing at 7:15. Your uniform will be on board, and I’m going to need you to get outfitted by the time we pull out of the station. Sound alright?” I confirmed that that’d be perfectly fine with me, and he gave me a thumbs-up. Then, he gestured to the others. “Now, Tadeas will be pulling in soon, but would you like to meet the rest of the Aurora family while we wait?” he asked, before beginning to list their names and point them out, one by one. As he pointed to them, they waved- some with excitement, others with a sort of casual energy. It was… Kind of adorable really. It set the stage for our friendship later on, I’ll tell you that much.

After a half-hour of laughter, and conversation, and getting acquainted, I was more than excited to see what my new home-away-from-home would be looking like. And when the train rolled in, I was instantly struck by how  _ breathtaking  _ it looked. But even then something didn't seem… normal. This did  _ not _ look like a three pound train ride. _ "All aboard!"  _ Peter exclaimed to the mostly empty platform, practically skipping as he made his way onto the train.

I sheepishly shuffled on board with everyone else, and stared awestruck at the train's interior.  _ Luxury _ doesn't even begin to describe what the train resembled. It was beautiful. Old, and welcoming, and warm, and… wooden. Like someone had built a whole train out of a modern log cabin. As I stood there, open-mouthed, Peter coughed. "Everything alright?" He asked, and all I could do to respond was stammer out _ "... It’s a nice train.” _ He laughed, gave me a friendly pat on the back, and said something along the lines of, “If you think it’s nice now, you haven’t seen  _ anything  _ yet. Now, go get ready, it’s going to be a  _ long  _ ride."

After he sent me off, I found my quarters in the coach car, and began to get into my uniform. As I got into it I felt this… weird sense of half-ownership. It felt like a hand-me-down, like a grandparent's old clothes. I understand that doesn't sound nice but… it  _ was _ , I guess. It felt like this uniform was a birthright and it was finally being passed down to me.

When I stepped out of my quarters I was shocked by the sheer number of passengers that had come to the station in the 5 minutes it had taken me to find my room and get my uniform on. It wasn't  _ crowded _ by any means, but it was a  _ lot  _ of people for 6:50 in the morning. And they kept coming too, until I had the stark realization that this train was  _ absolutely  _ going to be filled to capacity. And again, that's  _ weird,  _ because this it was  _ early morning  _ and this station was  _ pretty out of the way, right?  _ But I figured, whatever, maybe today was some dumb Republique holiday I'd never heard of, and people were… Going on a train tour to celebrate?

… Okay I admit, it was a weak explanation, but it was the one I chose to stick with. No point in asking stupid questions on my first day on the job.

Once the train began to pull out of the station, the weirdness really started to solidify. Not a  _ bad  _ weird really, just… I started feeling things I hadn't felt on any of my other jobs. There was this deep, unspoken sense of  _ community _ between me and my new coworkers, the kind of connections it took  _ months  _ to make in my other jobs. But we just bounced off each other so well, and I felt comfortable making the usual jabs and jokes. It was like we all just  _ clicked. _

But it wasn't just me and the staff, it was the passengers aboard the train as well. They were all so… friendly. And I got the impression that at least a couple dozen of the passengers  _ definitely knew  _ Conductor Lukas, because some of them full on  _ hugged  _ the man as they got on board, all laughs and smiles. And more than that, the passengers kept… bumping into one another. It's not too big a coincidence for old friends and family members to be on the same train without realizing it but the sheer number of  _ accidental reunions  _ was just… Well, it was almost impossible. But it  _ kept happening.  _ Whole families boarded on the same day without scheduling it. Friends who hadn’t spoken for months, siblings who hadn’t spoken for  _ years. _

But I didn’t think anything of it. I never really thought anything about how weird it all was. At least… Not until day eight of our seven day ride.

I remember drifting off to sleep in my quarters, staring out my window at the stars, waiting for the Aurora to roll back into that small out-of-the-way station. I thought about how much I’d miss this train, and these people, when I eventually quit because this was too good to last for long. Hell, I thought about how much I’d miss this train when I went home tomorrow afternoon. But as I thought about it, I heard the distant sound of a train’s whistle.  _ Our _ train’s whistle. And as the whistle blew, the world turned  _ white  _ with snow, as the sky began to cloud over. The window became covered in snow, and I began to worry that the train would come grinding to a halt, and that we’d have to break out a plow. But we didn’t stop, and after around an hour, I drifted back to sleep.

When I asked Peter- sorry, Conductor Lukas- when we were going to stop, he put on a confused face. Well… I say he  _ put on  _ a confused face, because the man isn’t exactly a good liar and he was  _ very _ obviously lying. He’s got a way with words, and leading, and coaching people, and also- apparently- a knack for cooking... but “great at directly deceiving people” is not something that’s on his long list of skills. Anyway, he explained that I must have read his emails wrong: we’re a 10-day round trip, after all. I was just as confused, and a little bit insulted, but it turned out that... well... he was right. I looked at my email, and it did say that it was a 10-day round trip. I apologized, and got ready for work.

That was when I noticed how weird the countryside looked. It wasn’t immediate, but I noticed that the hills were…  _ different,  _ somehow. Not in an obvious or scary way or anything, but something about the landscape had changed. I didn’t place it until our next round of passengers began to board the train. All of them, and I mean  _ all of them _ , were Irish. Thickly accented Irish too, so it was kind of hard to miss. I asked around a bit, and it turned out this train’s latest stop was right by Dublin. Which, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you, is  _ impossible. _ Trains can’t just  _ cross islands  _ like that, especially not when there’s  _ no track _ connecting them. But, somehow, here we were. I reread the email. I checked the material online. I looked through all the flyers. This was, and apparently always had been, an Irish line from Dublin to Houston.

I pulled aside a fellow coworker, Richie, and asked her what the hell was going on. She got this amused look, and said something along the lines of “ It’s best to just… Go along for the ride. We’ll be back in Britain in no time.”  So I followed her advice. I met more new people, I got even closer to the crew, and I had some of Peter’s cooking. It was… ridiculously good, to be honest. He makes some great soup. That aside, though, the 10 day trip turned into a 13 day one, then 15, and soon enough, I’d seen all of Europe. I learned to stop questioning it- not because I was told to, but because I was happy to stay on the Aurora for as long as I could. Pretty soon, when the train whistle blew the only thing I could think was _ “I wonder where we’re going next.” _

After a full month of travel- at least, I  _ think  _ it was a full month, it was hard to keep track- the train rolled back into Britain. I said my tearful goodbyes to the crew, told them that I’d be back soon as we exchanged phone numbers and emails, slipped up and accidentally called Conductor Lukas “Dad” when he hugged me… We all had a laugh about that. But honestly… I’m not sure if I  _ want  _ to go back. I feel caught between a rock and a hard place but… the other way around. I’m trapped between a pillow and a soft place.

I like this sanctuary. It’s kept me stable between jobs. It’s given me a place to stay, it’s given me a lot of purpose. I feel… safe, here. Secure, even. But if I get on that train again… If I join the Aurora Family… I don’t know if I’ll ever come back. And I don’t think I’ll want to.

**KEEPER**

Interview ends.

As interesting as this interview is, and as verifiable as its claims could potentially be, I don’t think I’ll be looking into it. For one, I feel it would be a breach of privacy to make contact with Carlita as she very intentionally cut all ties with the Sanctuary upon her leaving five years ago. Furthermore, she recently married a Miss _Elie Lukas,_ Conductor Lukas’s niece, and I suspect that her connection to these events are now a far more personal matter.

On another note, investigating it to any major degree would require speaking with Elias about it. And as unpleasant as that prospect is in any regard, given how much he  _ “hates to pry”, _ the involvement of the Lukas family is even more discouraging. I recall Elias saying that he does indeed have  _ “a vested interest in their satisfaction with the Sanctuary” _ , but he absolutely refuses to explain why and I have yet to find any ties between the Lukas family and the Sanctuary, let alone their “satisfaction” with it. Yet Elias  _ insists  _ that we do not contact them.

And I can’t explain it, but… he always seems so  _ somber _ about it.

… End recording.

**Author's Note:**

> AGAIN, SO MANY THANKS TO AO3 USER ZYKABEN FOR PRACTICALLY WRITING HALF OF THIS EPISODE!!! IF YOU'RE READING THIS, I OWE YOU MY LIFE
> 
> ANYWAY!!! Here he is!!! The man, the myth, the legend, Conductor Peter Lukas himself!!!! Here to kick ass and take trains. Before anyone asks, yes, The Aurora is a very dumb Polar Express rip off. No, I will not apologize. Also, again, you can thank Zykaben for Conductor Peter Lukas, because Trains... Cozy. Filled With People. Good For Family Entity.
> 
> Also also, yes, the Tim thing is my way of explaining why we haven't gotten any Interviews involving the direct usage of Leitners name, Michael Crew, Gerry, or Mary Keay. Is it a bit lazy on my part? Yes. Would I rather be a little bit lazy than tear myself to pieces writing parallels to 3/4ths of a 40 episode season? Also yes.
> 
> As always, thank you all for reading!!! I'm in a much better place now than I was when I started this series, and the constant drive I get to WRITE has absolutely been a huge part of it. I cannot thank you all enough. Big hearts, once again, <3 !
> 
> (ALSO, ONE LAST THING, PLEASE LOOK AT THIS AMAZING FANART ZYKA MADE: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/654506348309905408/673022169504284682/20200131_232921.jpg)


End file.
